The real question arising out of Golfgate and the infamous dinner is just what the hell Cowen thought was in it for him, writes Brendan O'Connor

DON'T you just love the smell of the locker room in the morning? And the fall of Brian Cowen stinks to high heaven of the locker room. Cowen, the vaguely self-loathing GAA culchie, wanted to hang with the rugby guys -- and by Christ, he paid some price for it. And the rugby boys, as always, came out smelling of Deep Heat.

DON'T you just love the smell of the locker room in the morning? And the fall of Brian Cowen stinks to high heaven of the locker room. Cowen, the vaguely self-loathing GAA culchie, wanted to hang with the rugby guys -- and by Christ, he paid some price for it. And the rugby boys, as always, came out smelling of Deep Heat.

The big question that hovers around Brian Cowen's contacts with representatives of Anglo Irish Bank is the question of what was in it for Cowen. He was out with his old friends, we are told. He was honouring the age-old relationship between Fianna Fail and the developer classes. But that doesn't seem like enough, does it? It is easy to see what Seanie and Fintan Drury and the rest of the Anglo crowd got out of their relationship with Brian Cowen. But why did Cowen do it? No one thinks he took any money or that anything actually corrupt went on. So what the hell was Cowen playing at?

Read Seanie FitzPatrick's book (and make no mistake, The Fitzpatrick Tapes is Seanie's book) and it will slowly dawn on you. As much as it is self-serving and presents just one perspective on the truth, The Fitzpatrick Tapes tells a far greater truth. And that is what happens rugger buggers when they grow up.

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